A Kingsmills massacre victim has contrasted the decision not to prosecute Barry McElduff for his Kingsmills tweet with the PSNI branding a recent Ku Klux Klan incident as “a hate crime”.

Earlier this week police branded an incident where a crowd of people in Ku Klux Klan outfits posed outside an Islamic centre in Newtownards as a hate crime.

Colin Worton's brother Kenneth was one of 10 Protestant workmen shot dead in the Kingsmills massacre in 1976

Sinn Fein MP Barry McElduff quit his post after posing with a Kingsmill-branded loaf on his head on the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre.

The Sinn Fein veteran has always maintained he had not meant the video as a reference to the sectarian murders of 10 Protestant workmen near the south Armagh village of Kingsmill.

He said he was unaware he had posted it on the 42nd anniversary of the attack.

Colin Worton, whose brother Kenneth was killed by the IRA in the 1976 Kingsmills Massacre, said: “I read with interest that the police are going to investigate the KKK incident as a hate crime. The people concerned need not worry themselves too much as the police have investigated the Barry McElduff saga and all concerned have stated there is insufficient evidence to prosecute him or anyone else.

“Let me state unconditionally, both these incidents are equally bad and I will be taking a very close watch on any [KKK} decision taken.

“I now firmly believe that the police are looking more like the Keystone Cops than a recognized international police force. They have a lot of trust building to do to regain my trust and that of my family.”

He “did not hold out much hope for a meaningful investigation” into McElduff, he said.

Speaking about the KKK incident this week, PSNI Insp Richard Murray said: “Hate crime, in all its forms, is totally unacceptable.”

The Chief Constable, George Hamilton, said the incident was “disgusting and distasteful”.

“There’s no place for it anywhere in Northern Ireland. We will investigate it and report the evidence to the PPS,” he added.